Why mums in the South are spending nearly £2,000 in the summer holidays

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Published:07:00Sunday 16 August 2015

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A new report says that mums in the South expect to spend a total of £1,989 in an effort to keep their kids entertained during the summer holidays break.

This includes: £910 on eating out and treats; £829 on days out and activities; £250 on childcare costs.

The Mumdex poll of almost 2,000 UK mums reveals that grandparents are picking up the bulk of the costs by providing an average of 24 hours of “free” childcare each week. School and community groups are providing an average of eight hours per week, other family members are providing six hours per week, childminders four hours per week, and neighbours and friends spare two hours of their time.

Although they make savvy savings on childcare, mums are spending these savings on other hefty outgoings.

Faced with high expectations, associated costs of entertainment, and the pressure of calling in childcare favours from friends and family, the length of the school holidays also continues to be a hot debate - half of mums (49%) would like the Government to address this issue.

Almost a fifth (19%) of Southern mums polled said that they want the Government to reduce the length of the summer holidays

One third (30%) agreed that the same amount of holidays should be spread more evenly throughout the year

Nearly a quarter of mums from the South (23%) also said they would like the Government to further increase the number of free childcare hours over the summer holidays

Hayley Tatum, Asda’s Executive People Director, says: “The summer holiday provides families with the perfect opportunity to spend quality time together and it’s great to see grandparents at the heart of this. However, what mums are telling us is that more could be done to make the summer break less stressful through support with childcare and have called on the government to look into this, as well as a review of the summer break length.”

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